Big Earnings Miss After The Close
Stocks were mixed as investors weighed economic
news. Merger mania just added to the high levels of bullishness.
Yesterday we reported that the Investor’s Intelligence bullish level is the
highest it’s been since 1987/
Jobless claims for the week ended 12/11 fell -43,000 to 317,000, the largest
decline in claims since December 2001. The 4-week MA fell 4500 to 337,750.
Housing starts fell -13.1% in November, the sharpest drop in 11 years. The
Philly Fed was stronger, at 29.6 in December from 20.7 in November.
Goldman Sachs
(
GS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.06 but investment banking revenue was
lower than expected.
Symantec
(
SYMC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is buying Veritas
(
VRTS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) for $13.5
billion, an all-stock deal that values VRTS at $30.78/share.
Fedex
(
FDX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.02 but beat on revenues.
Advance America
(AEA) priced its IPO at $15, at the high end of the range. The company is the
largest provider of payday cash advance loans in the US. The stock cloded at
20.50, up 36%.
After the close, Tektronics
(
TEK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) beat by 0.09 but guided lower.
Take Two
(
TTWO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed by 0.19 and guided lower. Adode
(
ADBE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
beat by 0.02.
Remember: options and futures expire tomorrow.
Strong sectors were:Â Pharmaceuticals
(
DRG.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.72%,
Healthcare
(
HCX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +1.15%, Consumer
(
CMR.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) +0.44%
Weak sectors were: Healthcare Providers
(
HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.50%, Internet
(
GIN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.32%, Oil
(
XOI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) -1.09%.
| Dow | +14.19 | 10,705.64 |
| S&P 500 | -2.54 | 1,203.18 |
| Nasdaq | -16.40 | 2,146.15 |
The dollar was +0.93 at
82.56
Crude Oil was -0.17 at
44.52
Gold was -5.40 to 436.60
1.3 billion on the Nasdaq.
Market breadth was mixed.
| NYSE | Issues | |
| Advancing | 1134 | Up Vol 770 |
| Declining | 2164 | Down Vol 893 |
| Ratio | 1.90 | 1.15 |
| Nasdaq |
||
| Advancing | 1191 | Up Vol 795 |
| Declining | 1952 | Down Vol 1493 |
| Ratio | 1.63 | 1.87 |
Stocks in the News
Sepracor
(
SEPR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) received FDA approval on Lunestra insomnia
treatment.
The SEC told Fannie Mae
(
FNM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) to restate earnings.
Amgen
(
AMGN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)said its Kepivance was approved by the FDA.
Bed Bath & Beyond
(
BBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) said Q3 earnings rose 21%.
Teradyne
(
TER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was downgraded at Credit Suisse to underperform.
Taser
(
TASR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was mentioned favorably in Investor’s Business Daily
Brice Wightman